Is dance a sport? The question that makes every dancer want to fan kick anyone who asks. I believe the only way to prove that dance is a sport is not by telling of all the sit ups, and pushups, and pull ups, and however many other “ups” there are that dancers complete during practice, but rather by giving the facts, or perhaps a play-by-play.

First the facts:

Dance (n): art made with ones body through strength, endurance, and flexibility; always competitively, whether it is competing against oneself, or against other dancers. It is a commonly adored form of performance.

Sports (pn): an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team compiles against another or others for entertainment.

What is the difference?

Is it that those who play football, basketball, hockey, etc. are stronger than dancers?

Three hundred twenty muscles are engaged while a dancer is completing a single pirouette.

Is it that those who play sports put more time into their profession?

The average competitive dancer rehearses twenty-seven hours a week in a studio. This does not include the at home training he or she does on his or her own.

Is it because dancers do not tackle?

Dancers tackle grace, which is more defensive than J.J. Watt.

Just in case the facts are not convincing enough to the critics of dance, here is a visual. A pirouette is a turn or a series of turns traveling 360 degrees on one leg. While one is performing this turn, he or she must lift whichever leg is not serving as an axis for the turn; keeping pointed toes, he or she must place the outside of his or her smallest toe, just above the knee cap and right in the pocket of the leg that God seemed to make just for dancers. However, as the dancer places his or her leg in this position, he or she may not leave any evidence that his or her foot ever rested on his or her tights. As the rest of this is occurring the dancer must also focus on one spot in the room in order to maintain balance, and just as he or she loses the ability to look at that one spot any longer, he or she must snap his or her focus to another position that convinces anyone who is watching that dancers do not get dizzy. If one is completely confused after reading this paragraph, he or she has the right idea.

The debate as to whether dance is a sport or whether it is not lives on solely due to pride. Humans always feel the need to be just a little better than the other. I think we should view dance and sports the way one would buildings from an airplane, completely level, no one building taller than the other.